stratman70
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Question about Laptop used for recording
Hi
first, my question is "not" about a recommendation but simply about the structure of the laptops used for recording.
When you use a laptop to record audio is the audio recorded on:
1.external hard drive 2. same os drive in laptop or a second hd installed in the laptop. Best option is: ?
Hope that makes sense
Thanks
Frank
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kennywtelejazz
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Re: Question about Laptop used for recording
2015/09/26 16:09:00
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I'm pretty sure you will get a bunch of different answers for your question and I hope I learn something new from what somebody else has to say …
In my situation , w my lap top here's what I do ….
option # 1 , I use an external HD that spins at 7200 …
the only minor draw back I have to that option is my lap top only has a few USB ports and I like to hook up my 2i4 to it's own USB port …once I add a midi keyboard I end up having to put that on a hub…
When I'm working up something from the ground up from scratch I'm perfectly OK starting out using my internal HD for starting up my projects and experimenting around .
My lap tops internal HD spins at 5400 and I use it for convenience primarily ….
This HD was setup with a partition for the OS + programs and a partition for Data from the laptops manufacturer ..
once something I'm working on takes shape I will save it to the Data partition only because I don't want it to eat up the space on the OS partition …
I may also decide to send it over to the external HD so I also have a copy of my parent project while it is still very young …
In this phase , I'm pretty much talking about song ideas that aren't hitting my CPU all that hard to begin with …
While my scratch projects are still in Limbo , they stay where I can get to them fast and easy with out having to hook up and route a bunch of external gear and HD's …
The reason for this approach is I like to be able to take my lap top out of it's cary bag in a moments notice a get busy as fast as I can once an idea hits me …
On true proper projects that are more developed and when I know that I will be working on a specific song or Idea
with the intention of putting my best foot forward .
I will run an external HD for streaming the project and another external HD that has samples and loops on it …
Just so you know , I'm running a middle of the road lap top as it came from the factory w the exception of de junking it as best as I could ….also I do not have mega libraries or super synths to run over here ….
I have no idea if I can pull out the optical drive and put another drive there or if the mo bo even supports that ….
Ideally yeah if I ever decide to have a laptop that is custom made I would probably be OK w that as an option .
Even this little chugger I have can pull down 24 to 35 tracks w out breaking a sweat before I need to stream from another hard drive …as I've said, I think it is OK to use the internal drive for scratch ideas and then relocate them to stream from and External HD
I'm not a power computer guy so I do hope someone else chimes in that is one and gives you better answers …
have a good one ,
Kenny
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Doktor Avalanche 
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Re: Question about Laptop used for recording
2015/09/26 16:24:47
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Your choice. Just seperate data from the application. You can also seperate samples from projects. This should improve performance and separating data from apps will help organise your backups. If you just use a large SSD then performance wise you don't have to seperate data, but still a good idea for organisation purposes. If you have a SSD and a hard drive make sure your apps and are on the SSD, and utilize as much as you can put of it. Remember you can partition a single drive (split it up into drive letters) if you just have one hard drive. It will improve performance doing this, but not as much as using a seperate drive (unless SSD which case no difference). External drives are obviously good for portability and unlimited storage possibilities . Another important thing is to have a decent backup strategy. If money is no object buy a single 2tb Samsung 850 EVO.
post edited by Doktor Avalanche - 2015/09/26 16:36:07
Sonar Platinum(64 bit),Win 8.1(64 bit),Saffire Pro 40(Firewire),Mix Control = 3.6,Firewire=VIA,Dell Studio XPS 8100(Intel Core i7 CPU 2.93 Ghz/16 Gb),2 x 1TB SSD (Samsung EVO 850),GeForce GTX 460,Yamaha DGX-505 keyboard,Roland A-300PRO,Roland SPD-30 V2,FD-8,Triggera Krigg,Shure SM7B,Yamaha HS5. Rap Pro,Maschine Studio+Komplete 9 Ultimate+Kontrol Z1,Addictive Keys,Waves Silver,Izotope Nectar elements,Overloud Bundle,Geist,Acronis True Image 2015.
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stratman70
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Re: Question about Laptop used for recording
2015/09/26 17:37:20
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Great info-And quite a bit of it. I did remove my optical drive and install the laptops orig HD there. I replace the laptop os drive with an ssd drive. I have asked about the hard drive issue before but never asked how others were doing it. The drive I put in the cd slot seems slow but I am guessing that the optical drive interface-maybe not.
Main reason for this question is: do I need to buy a new laptop-but from all this I would say now-it''s an
asus i7-3770 -not positive about the mz, I'm not in front of it now.
I'm going to do some recording tonight to see how it goes. I wanted to match my desktop setup but cannot-so hopefully just changing the folder prefs (redirecting) should let projects just be passed back and forth.
I have talked about this for a while and have yet to record o the laptop-?
BTW, I have a roland Octacapture for the laptop. echo Layla 3G for my desktop.
Thanks guys for the extensive insight----really helps
Frank
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stratman70
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Re: Question about Laptop used for recording
2015/09/26 17:40:30
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sorry just to add--so your saying if I had a larger ssd (currently intel 180gb) I could use just that one drive? I only record myself-guitars and vocals-everything else is midi using a midi controller and softsynths.
optical drive is now a 7200rpm 750gb (the original os drive that cam in the laptop.
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synkrotron
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Re: Question about Laptop used for recording
2015/09/27 00:31:51
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I went for the option of having no bluray and using the slot for a second SSD. So I have all my Sonar projects stored on that.
My recent upgrade included a 500gb OS and 1tb second drive, so that's going to last me as long as the SSD's hold up...
http://www.synkrotron.co.uk/Intel Core™i7-3820QM Quad Core Mobile Processor 2.70GHz 8MB cache | Intel HM77 Express Chipset | 16GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 RAM | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM | 500GB Samsung 850 Pro SSD | 1TB Samsung 850 Pro SSD | Windows 10 Pro | Roland OCTA-CAPTURE | SONAR Platinum ∞ FFS| Too many VSTi's to list here | KRK KNS-8400 Headphones | Roland JP-8000 | Oberheim OB12 | Novation Nova | Gibson SG Special | PRS Studio
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stratman70
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Re: Question about Laptop used for recording
2015/09/27 01:22:25
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Hmmm? Maybe I should have gotten an SSD for the 2nd hard. The drive I installed in the optical slot is 750gb but it's7200rpm's so I imagine that's good for my second driver-for samples and audio.
I have asked this question probably 5X already and I apologize.
Using the 2nd drive-the 750gb 7200rpm Seagate for audio and samples "without" partitioning or with partitioning? I have gotten pros and cons for both. I thought samples on one partition and audio files on the other.
But many said that would make it slower or at least not help. Just lump them both on the 750gb, separate folders of course.
Any thoughts?
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kennywtelejazz
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Re: Question about Laptop used for recording
2015/09/27 13:45:35
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My question to you is " Have you recorded on your lap top system yet ?
According to post # 4 , less than a day ago you were talking about recording on your system to see how it stacks up ….
How did it Go ?
Kenny
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stratman70
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Re: Question about Laptop used for recording
2015/09/27 13:58:45
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I did record-finished up something I started a while back. But I needed to get it done so I used my external Sample drive (SSD) .
I am actually in the process right now of recording with all internal.....sample folder and audio folder on same un-partitioned drive, the 750gb 7200rpm that replaced the optical drive. I have a good feeling about it. I will post back later.
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mudgel
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Re: Question about Laptop used for recording
2015/09/29 09:19:13
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I've recorded 48 tracks live simultaneously at 24 bit/44.1 kHz using 2 X FF800s + 4 X ADATs
I used a laptop with 2 internal 500 gig 7200 rpm HDDs. OS and Sonar and plugins on the main drive with the tracks recorded to the second drive.
The only thing to complicate that setup would be if you were setting up fx from your PC through Sonar. Then you'll have to cope with some latency but it depends on if your recording is also the FOH feed or whether you are taking direct outs from a separate mixing console. I got direct out feeds. If you're providing the mix as well then you're better to use external fx so you can direct monitor and record.
Mike V. (MUDGEL) STUDIO: Win 10 Pro x64, SPlat & CbB x64, PC: ASUS Z370-A, INTEL i7 8700k, 32GIG DDR4 2400, OC 4.7Ghz. Storage: 7 TB SATA III, 750GiG SSD & Samsung 500 Gig 960 EVO NVMe M.2. Monitors: Adam A7X, JBL 10” Sub. Audio I/O & DSP Server: DIGIGRID IOS & IOX. Screen: Raven MTi + 43" HD 4K TV Monitor. Keyboard Controller: Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S88.
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stratman70
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Re: Question about Laptop used for recording
2015/09/29 16:47:06
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Hey M,
Did record yesterday with ssd os and sonar and everything else (audio & Samples) on 750gb 7200rpm int. It was ok-
One difference I have I think that most do not have is that I use softsynths for drums, Bass and keys. I sequence them myself with a cheap midi keyboard...my point being I do need the samples. When I recorded just my vocals, or just my guitar(the lead or the rhythm) it was fine.
Need to get my head around the new "direct real time synth recording. Which I will tackle tonight. Thanks for the input.
May upgrade to Win 10 tonight first. Not sure. I have hesitated because the Home version had the auto updates unstoppable. But did find that tool MS put out where you can control this a bit, so...............
Frank
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robert_e_bone
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Re: Question about Laptop used for recording
2015/09/29 17:27:01
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One thing to tuck in the back of your brain when using a laptop (or any computer with WiFi).
Many folks experience huge latency spikes on laptops and computers with WiFi adapters, that are actually caused by either the drivers for those or something with the hardware itself. These latency spikes cause frequent audio dropouts, and make it seem like you want to throw your computer at the wall or domestic partner.
Not to worry, the easy fix if that happens is to temporarily turn off or disable the WiFi (some laptops have physical switches to turn off the WiFi adapters, or a function key to do so, OR you can go into Windows Device Manager and disable the WiFi there - don't uninstall it just disable it). So turn of or disable WiFi just prior to launching Sonar, and any latency spikes from WiFi will no longer occur. Then, when done with the Sonar session, turn WiFi back on or enable it again in Windows Device Manager.
Just keep the above in the back of your noggin.
Bob Bone
Wisdom is a giant accumulation of "DOH!" Sonar: Platinum (x64), X3 (x64) Audio Interfaces: AudioBox 1818VSL, Steinberg UR-22 Computers: 1) i7-2600 k, 32 GB RAM, Windows 8.1 Pro x64 & 2) AMD A-10 7850 32 GB RAM Windows 10 Pro x64 Soft Synths: NI Komplete 8 Ultimate, Arturia V Collection, many others MIDI Controllers: M-Audio Axiom Pro 61, Keystation 88es Settings: 24-Bit, Sample Rate 48k, ASIO Buffer Size 128, Total Round Trip Latency 9.7 ms
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stratman70
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Re: Question about Laptop used for recording
2015/09/29 18:30:45
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Thanks Bob I sure will- very easy to disable wifi on my laptop ......
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Cactus Music
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Re: Question about Laptop used for recording
2015/09/30 10:08:45
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I was given a older ( Vista) Sony Viao Laptop last winter and went about re purposing it to use just as a DAW and playback for live gigs.
pulled the old drive and added a 240 SSD.
upped the RAM to 6 GB
installed W7 ultimate 64 bit.
I then installed Sonar Profesional (now Plat) and a few other music apps like Goldwave.
I also loaded in all my backing tracks ( 200 songs) which are Wave and Win Amp to use as a player. There's a few pictures, my dropbox folder and a lyrics folder.
I'm using my old Tascam us1641 as the interface and can record 16 tracks of audio in one pass, no problem. It is as stable as my desktop even though it's way under powered ( duo core 2.5)
Because of the monitors etc I transfer the live band recordings over to my desktop DAW to carry on the heavy duty editing and overdubs.
But so far I haven't needed to delete anything from the laptop and it's at about 80 GB so far.
So everything is on the one SSD drive.
I guess I don't have any sample library's other than what ever Sonar gives me by default.Only thing I don't install is the tutorials and sample content.
I have avoided using an external drive thinking that the USB port system needs as little going on a possible while I'm recording. But that's 16 tracks not just 1 or 2.
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